Page 7 of Dirty Justice

God, that hurt to think about. He twisted his mind from the past.Just give the report.

He started speaking in a low voice, providing names and cities for her to launch her investigation.

As she typed, he noticed a photo frame on her desk and picked it up.

She stopped typing. “Put that down, thank you very much.”

He couldn’t. He had to see if the photo was her with that douchebag she had lunch with. His mind flew straight to the worst-case scenario—that it was a photo of them on some sunny vacation together, locked in an embrace.

Apollo never shied away from conflict, even if he didn’t want to look this one in the eyes. He turned the frame in his hands and almost sagged in relief.

Indika with her parents in front of the Washington Monument, snapped when they’d visited her years ago, right around the time when he and Indika had begun their story together.

A story that ended too briefly and with a hell of a lot of unhappiness.

She reached out and grabbed the frame from him, setting it down a little too hard on the desk. “I think I’ve got everything I need here. You can go now, Apollo.”

Her use of his last name made him settle his ass even more firmly in the seat. “So, that guy you were eating with…”

“Oh god. Please don’t. I refuse to discuss this with you.”

His stare ticked up to hers and trapped those beautiful brown eyes in his hold. “A kiss on the cheek, Indika? Is the guy a relative? Because that’s how I kiss my mother.”

She planted both hands on the edge of the desk. Her knuckles whitened. “It’s none of your business what I do anymore!”

“Are you seeing that guy? He looks like he stepped out of the Yacht Club.”

A dark flush crept up her neck and created spots in her cheeks.

“Oh damn. Seriously? I hit the nail on the head, didn’t I? Does he have a boat? Only douchebags own boats.”

“You’re one to talk. You started in the Navy!”

“That’s different. It was a ship. A big, manly ship. What’s he got? A dinghy to match his tiny dick?”

“Get out!”

“I don’t think I will. Now I’m invested in this story. Are you dating him?”

“Whyshouldn’tI date? You were gone three years. I thought you weredead.” She adopted a sharp tone, and his guess was she was using it as a shield so he didn’t see her real feelings.

With a small shake of his head, he fought for something to say that would smooth this all over between them—and bring her back to him.

“It wasn’t by choice, Indika. I told you before, I saw a way to infiltrate Abubakar’s cell and get to him faster. If I hadn’t, we wouldn’t have got him when we did. He would have killed thousands more.”

“And I toldyouthat you could have at least sent me some message or sign that you were alive, rather than…than…”

Oh god, she was going to break down in tears, and it was all his fault. As if his guilt wasn’t already crushing for what he did to her.

He made a move to get out of his chair, and she sliced a hand through the air to stop him.

“When you love someone…you find a way to reach out,” she forced out in a voice that was so low and soft, it ripped his heart out of his chest.

“You don’t understand…”

“No.” She firmed her jaw and thrust steel into her eyes, replacing the glitter of tears. “Nothing would keep me from contacting you.Nothing.” She shoved her chair back and crossed her arms over her chest in a protective stance. “Now go.”

Seeing her so clearly upset left him feeling even worse than he had this morning when he woke from a nightmare and knew she wouldn’t be there to wrap her arms around him like she used to.

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